quote:First up is the venerable SatoshiDice, which is the leading bitcoin gambling site in terms of amount wagered. Responsible for more than 50% of daily network volume on the Bitcoin blockchain, SatoshiDice reported first year earnings from wagering at an impressive B33,310 ($568,268 in USD). During the year, players bet a total of B1,787,470 in 2,349,882 individual bets at an average monthly growth rate of 78%. Earnings were calculated from eight months of data covering May to December, 2012.

quote:Provably-fair bitZino, covered previously in this column, offers blackjack, video poker, roulette, and craps in a bitcoin-only environment. When roulette was launched it quickly rose to become the top bitZino game, leveling off now to become equal with blackjack in terms of hands played. BitZino reported first year earnings from wagering of B10,137 ($172,937 in USD). During the year, players bet a total of B664,192 in 3.2 million individual bets. Earnings were calculated from seven months of data covering June to December, 2012.

Just thought some of y'all might find it interesting. 2013 is going to see an explosion of bitcoin gambling. Stay tuned!

The bitcoin economy is still very small, but it is growing. You can buy electronics at BitcoinStore.com.

There is a bitcoin eBay-type site called BitMit

BitPay is a bitcoin payment processor that currently serves over 2400 merchants, including WordPress

Of course, there are gambling sites as well.

Truth be told, the bitcoin economy is in its infancy right now and there's really not much you can buy with bitcoins. But it is growing and it seems like there is some nice new development or growth in the economy every month.

I wouldn't recommend it to anyone to get started with purchasing bitcoins right now unless you are tech-savvy and willing to accept a great deal of risk. Or unless you just wanted to gamble online with it and then trade it back for USD when done.

quote:Is there some type of exchange website where you can trade in Bitcoins for USD?

I would be interested in seeing someone tell a Court that. If I get a judgment against John Smith for $10k, and he has $5k worth of bit coins I am going to seize it. Since it is a form of currency, I would imagine the Court would order the debtor to transfer it to me or hold him in contempt.

You can "mine" Bitcoins using a computers graphics card. That's the only way to earn them. Unless you're willing to utilize a bunch of computers the return is minimal. However, you can join a cooperative with your computer(s) and you get a percentage of what the cooperative earns.

If the gambling sites were to take off the potential is that the value of a Bitcoin could skyrocket. One of the big problems right now is that if an exchange gets hacked it destroys the value.